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feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses#547

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steipete merged 2 commits intoopenclaw:mainfrom
pasogott:feature/broadcast-groups
Jan 9, 2026
Merged

feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses#547
steipete merged 2 commits intoopenclaw:mainfrom
pasogott:feature/broadcast-groups

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@pasogott pasogott commented Jan 9, 2026

Fixes #546

Summary

Enables multiple agents to process and respond to the same message simultaneously, allowing teams of specialized agents with atomic tasks to work together in a single WhatsApp group using one phone number.

Changes

  • Code: 63 lines added in src/web/auto-reply.ts and src/config/types.ts
  • Docs: Complete feature guide in docs/broadcast-groups.md

Key Features

✅ Configure multiple agents per WhatsApp group via routing.broadcast
✅ Parallel (default) or sequential processing strategies
✅ Full session isolation (separate history, workspace, tools per agent)
✅ Minimal code changes (~60 lines)
✅ Backward compatible with existing routing

Example Config

{
  "routing": {
    "broadcast": {
      "strategy": "parallel",
      "120363403215116621@g.us": ["alfred", "baerbel", "assistant3"]
    }
  }
}

Result: All three agents process every message in this group with isolated sessions.

Use Cases

  • Specialized agent teams (code reviewer + security scanner + docs generator)
  • Multi-language support (EN + DE + ES agents)
  • Quality assurance workflows (support + QA agents)
  • Task automation (tracker + logger + reporter)

This enables scaling to hundreds of focused micro-agents on a single phone number, each handling specific atomic tasks.

Testing

Manual testing performed:

  • ✅ Two agents in same WhatsApp group
  • ✅ Both agents respond independently
  • ✅ Separate session histories confirmed
  • ✅ Parallel processing works
  • ✅ No existing functionality broken

See #546 for detailed requirements and discussion.

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steipete commented Jan 9, 2026

Thanks!

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steipete commented Jan 9, 2026

PR 547 review (broadcast groups / multi-agent replies)

  • CI hard-fails (must fix):
    • src/web/auto-reply.ts:53 imports normalizeId from ../
      routing/session-key.js, but that export does not
      exist → runtime SyntaxError + TS TS2305.
    • src/config/types.ts:772 TS TS2411 because the
      broadcast index signature doesn’t allow undefined for
      strategy (optional property).
    • pnpm protocol:check fails because schema change
      requires regenerated artifacts: dist/
      protocol.schema.json + apps/macos/Sources/
      ClawdbotProtocol/GatewayModels.swift (the CI log
      prints the diff and exits 1).
  • Design/correctness concerns (broadcast logic as
    implemented):
    • Group-history + “respond to every message” mismatch:
      broadcast is checked late (right before
      processMessage). All the group gating/history
      collection earlier uses route.sessionKey /
      route.agentId (single agent). In broadcast mode, each
      agent gets a different sessionKey, so they won’t see
      the stored pre-mention history unless you also store
      it per broadcast-agent (or intentionally make history
      shared and update docs).
    • Per-agent behavior not actually per-agent: mention
      config / activation / last-route bookkeeping is
      computed once for route.agentId, not per broadcast
      agent. That conflicts with the doc’s “full session/
      tool/workspace isolation” claim.
    • Doc claim vs current group behavior: unless group
      activation is "always", the existing mention/
      activation gating still prevents “every message”
      processing in groups. Docs should either document
      this or the code should bypass gating for broadcast
      peers.
  • Docs nits (Mintlify rules):
    • docs/broadcast-groups.md uses relative .md links in
      “See Also” (multi-agent-sandbox-tools.md, etc.). Repo
      guideline says internal doc links should be root-
      relative and omit .md (e.g. /multi-agent-sandbox-
      tools).

Net: solid idea + minimal diff, but not mergeable yet: fix
the broken import/type, regenerate protocol artifacts, and
decide whether broadcast means “bypass group gating + per-
agent history/state” (code) or “multi-agent when we’d reply
anyway” (docs).

sheeek and others added 2 commits January 9, 2026 21:05
@steipete
feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses
09769d1 
Enables multiple agents to process the same message simultaneously,
allowing teams of specialized agents with atomic tasks to work together
in the same group using one phone number.

Key features:
- Configure multiple agents per WhatsApp group/DM via routing.broadcast
- Parallel (default) or sequential processing strategies
- Full session isolation (separate history, workspace, tools per agent)
- Minimal code changes (~50 lines in auto-reply.ts)
- Backward compatible with existing routing

Use cases:
- Specialized agent teams (code reviewer + security scanner + docs)
- Multi-language support (EN + DE + ES agents)
- Quality assurance workflows (support + QA agents)
- Task automation (tracker + logger + reporter)

Example config:
{
  "routing": {
    "broadcast": {
      "strategy": "parallel",
      "120363403215116621@g.us": ["alfred", "baerbel", "assistant3"]
    }
  }
}

This enables scaling to hundreds of focused micro-agents on a single
phone number, each handling specific atomic tasks.
@steipete
fix: land broadcast groups (openclaw#547) (thanks @pasogott)
7696416
@steipete steipete force-pushed the feature/broadcast-groups branch from d1bbcb1 to 7696416 Compare January 9, 2026 20:15
@steipete steipete merged commit e0089bb into openclaw:main Jan 9, 2026
18 checks passed
@steipete
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steipete commented Jan 9, 2026

Landed via temp rebase onto main.

  • Gate: pnpm lint && pnpm build && pnpm test
  • Land commit: 7696416
  • Merge commit: e0089bb

Thanks @pasogott!

steipete added a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 9, 2026
@steipete
fix: broadcast group history consistency (#547)
1a97aad
@steipete
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steipete commented Jan 9, 2026

Follow-up landed on main (post-merge):

  • Gate: pnpm lint && pnpm build && pnpm test
  • Commits: 7641b14, 1a97aad

Thanks again @pasogott!

zooqueen pushed a commit to hanzoai/bot that referenced this pull request Mar 6, 2026
@steipete
fix: land broadcast groups (openclaw#547) (thanks @pasogott)
f649a1e
zooqueen pushed a commit to hanzoai/bot that referenced this pull request Mar 6, 2026
@steipete
Merge pull request openclaw#547 from pasogott/feature/broadcast-groups
224ac01 
feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses
zooqueen pushed a commit to hanzoai/bot that referenced this pull request Mar 6, 2026
@steipete
fix: broadcast group history consistency (openclaw#547)
ca73e36
lovewanwan pushed a commit to lovewanwan/openclaw that referenced this pull request Apr 28, 2026
@steipete
fix: land broadcast groups (openclaw#547) (thanks @pasogott)
8bb8515
lovewanwan pushed a commit to lovewanwan/openclaw that referenced this pull request Apr 28, 2026
@steipete
Merge pull request openclaw#547 from pasogott/feature/broadcast-groups
55df1b0 
feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses
lovewanwan pushed a commit to lovewanwan/openclaw that referenced this pull request Apr 28, 2026
@steipete
fix: broadcast group history consistency (openclaw#547)
89bb87b
github-actions Bot pushed a commit to Desicool/openclaw that referenced this pull request May 9, 2026
@steipete
fix: land broadcast groups (openclaw#547) (thanks @pasogott)
846c9d5
github-actions Bot pushed a commit to Desicool/openclaw that referenced this pull request May 9, 2026
@steipete
Merge pull request openclaw#547 from pasogott/feature/broadcast-groups
272b31b 
feat: add broadcast groups for multi-agent responses
github-actions Bot pushed a commit to Desicool/openclaw that referenced this pull request May 9, 2026
@steipete
fix: broadcast group history consistency (openclaw#547)
a919812
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Broadcast Groups: Multi-Agent Responses for Team-Based Workflows

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@pasogott @steipete